Baltimore Museum of Art to reopen original entrance in November 2014

Architectural rendering of the BMA's front entrance, reopening November 2014

Ziger/Snead Architects

Ziger/Snead Architects

Mary Carole McCauley, The Baltimore Sun

Guest blog post by Mary Carole McCauley/The Baltimore Sun

The Baltimore Museum of Art announced Wednesday that it will reopen its historic entrance to visitors on Nov. 23, 2014, in celebration of the museum's 100th anniversary.

The elegant portico roof designed in 1929 by the great American architect John Russell Pope is supported by six Ionic columns. The entrance, which is reached at the top of a flight of stairs, seems to float above the surrounding terrain.

The exterior lighting is being updated, and after the renovation, the stairs will be used as a meeting place for visitors. The terrace also could be a site for art installations, lectures, and other programming, a museum spokeswoman said.

The reopening of the entrance, which has been closed to the public since 1982, is the most immediately visible aspect of the museum's multi-year, $28 million renovation.

It "will be an extraordinary moment in the museum’s distinguished history,” museum Director Doreen Bolger said in a news release, "bringing together museum-goers of all ages to experience John Russell Pope’s first vision of a great public art museum."

The museum's American wing also will reopen on Nov. 23, 2014, with a new presentation of what is considered to be among the finest collections of American fine and decorative arts on the East Coast.

The first phase of the renovation was completed in November 2012 with the redesign of the Contemporary Wing. The final phase will be completed in 2015 and will feature a new center for learning and creativity.

[An earlier version of this article misstated the collections located in the Contemporary Wing. The Sun regrets the error.]